What is Slack? Slack is a business communication tool. Here is a summary of what it offers:

• Channels – These are group chats that can be public (i.e. for everyone automatically) or private (i.e. the team members need to be invited to join).
• Direct Messages – Send a message to a team member (i.e. like any other Discord, Skype, ICQ, MSN Messanger, …. messaging service).
• VOIP Calls – connect with a team member or group of team members (voice and video).
• File sharing – drag and drop any files (limited size in free version).
• Search – Quick search results from all channels and direct messages for whatever you are looking for.
• Third Party Tool Integration – Hook up third party tools to send notifications to slack channels.
• Mobile App – iOS and Android apps that keeps you constantly in the loop of what’s going on with the team.

Cost?

There are currently three tiers of pricing for small to medium sized businesses.

Free – limited searchable messages and app integrations, one-to-one voice/video calls only, 5GB total file storage

Standard ($6.67 / month / user) – unlimited searchable messages and app integrations, more authorization options, up to 15 participants in voice/video calls, 10GB file storage per user, priority support read more

What is VisualSVN?

VisualSVN (https://www.visualsvn.com/) is an easy to install visual tool for installing and managing a Subversion server. Subversion (SVN) is an open source version control system (VCS). A VCS manages files and directories, and the changes made to them, over time. This allows you to recover older versions of your data or examine the history of how your data changed. Subversion is a general system that can be used to manage any collection of files. read more

What is Workflowy?

Workflowy is an organizational tool that allows you to take notes, make lists, collaborate, brainstorm, plan and generally organize your brain.

Cost?

Multiple versions:

1. Free
   • Limited bullet point creation (250 per month).
   • Can increase your bullet limit by inviting friends.
2. Pro ($5/month or $50/year)
   • Unlimited Lists
   • Backup to Dropbox
   • Password Protected Collaboration
   • Theme and Fonts
   • Premium Support

How dose ES use Workflowy?

We tried to use Workflowy for schedules and Milestone goals, but found that we ran into similar issues that you may find if you try to maintain lists in a shared document. Mainly that they are too hard to maintain.

Now we use Workflowy for personal TODO lists and high-level long term planning (i.e. Goals for a demo or large milestone)
read more

What is Trello?

Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into “boards”. In one glance, Trello tells you what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in a process.

Imagine a white board, filled with lists of sticky notes, with each note as a task for you and your team. Now imagine that each of those sticky notes has photos, attachments from other data sources like BitBucket or Salesforce, documents, and a place to comment and collaborate with your teammates. Now imagine that you can take that whiteboard anywhere you go on your smartphone, and can access it from any computer through the web. That’s Trello! (http://help.trello.com/article/708-what-is-trello) read more